Meet Claire Danes’ Three Children with Hugh Dancy: Everything You Need to Know

Claire Danes is a dedicated mother to her sons Cyrus and Rowan, along with her daughter Shay.

Danes embraced motherhood for the first time in 2012 when she and her husband Hugh Dancy welcomed Cyrus. The couple, who tied the knot in 2009, grew their family in 2018 with the birth of Rowan.

Just five years later, at the age of 43, Danes announced that she was expecting their third child.

“I believe [this is] the last! This one took us by surprise,” the actress disclosed during a January 2023 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “This pregnancy just happened, but we’re thrilled—Cyrus is now 10 and Rowan is 4, so there’ll be a significant age gap.”

Danes and Dancy welcomed Shay in July 2023.

Continue reading for an overview of Danes and Dancy’s three children:

Son Cyrus

Cyrus is the firstborn son of Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, arriving in December 2012. After his birth, Danes candidly expressed her initial surprises about first-time motherhood.

“I can’t concentrate on reading or watching a show. All I can do is gaze at him doing nothing,” she shared. “He changes so quickly—every day feels different. In just a handful of days, he got four teeth. He understands the word ‘no’ now, which he didn’t just two days ago.”

During her pregnancy with Rowan in 2018, Danes noted that Cyrus was “excited” to become a big brother.

“He’s thrilled, though he’s also showing a bit of ambivalence,” Danes commented during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show at the time.

Son Rowan

Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy welcomed Rowan in August 2018. Danes later shared that she went through two rounds of IVF to bring Rowan into the world.

Upon discovering she was pregnant with Shay, Danes revealed that Rowan struggled with the idea of a new sibling.

“Cyrus was sort of resigned to it. I mean, the worst has already happened, his name is Rowan,” Danes joked during a 2023 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “But Rowan has more to lose—he’s got more at stake. He was outright opposed to it, saying, ‘No, no, no, I dislike this. I like peace, Mama.’ I had to laugh because that kid doesn’t stop talking.”

Daughter Shay

Claire Danes publicly announced her pregnancy during the 2023 Golden Globes. Later that year, she welcomed her daughter and shared her name, Shay, on Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast.

“I find joy in watching toddlers dance—their jumps and those delightful bouncy movements,” she noted. “Shay, my little one, tends to be very introspective and dreamy. Sometimes, she dances with a charming [head-swaying] motion, and I think that’s fabulous.”

In that same interview, Danes discussed her surprise at being pregnant in her mid-40s.

“It was quite a meltdown,” Danes confessed, adding, “I didn’t think it was physically possible. I was 44.”